Dubai: Al Wahda’s Arabian Gulf League (AGL) title aspirations were dented on Saturday evening as they crashed to a surprise 4-2 defeat to Al Dhafra at Bani Yas Stadium.
Suhail Salem Al Mansoori opened the scoring for the visitors after only six minutes and, following additional strikes from Brazilian Diego Rigonato and Al Mansoori inside the opening 25 minutes, the hosts were reeling.
Minutes before the break, Mourad Batna pulled one back for the Abu Dhabi club, who are playing at Bani Yas’ stadium as work continues at their ground in the UAE capital.
It got worse after the interval for Al Wahda as Hamdan Al Kamali put the ball into his own net to make it 4-1 with 50 minutes on the clock.
The score remained that way until deep into the injury time when Sebastian Tagliabue nabbed a consolation for Al Wahda.
The result means Al Wahda remain on 12 points with four wins and two losses so far in the campaign and Al Dhafra move up to 11th with their second victory of the season.
While there were woes for Al Wahda, Sharjah looked set to continue their fine form in the league until a late leveller meant Ajman escaped with a 1-1 draw at Sharjah Stadium.
Uzbekistan international midfielder Otabek Shukurov opened the scoring for the hosts with a fine goal just after the half-hour. And they looked good for all three points until Nigerian Stanley Nka Ohawuchi struck with only a few minutes left.
Despite the setback Sharjah were still top of the standings on 14 points in the AGL. While Sharjah are at the summit, Ajman are down at 10th in the table on seven points.
